[ Dec.2019 ] Because we were planning to see a ballet and an opera at Opéra Bstille in Paris, this time we stayed near there in a hotel called Hotel Albe Bastille.
It was an ordinary three star hotel and the typical one in Paris which has all the necessities being put together in a small space.
For example, because there was no space for the bedside tables, there were holes on the wall next to the bed so that we could use them as the tables.
We met two receptionists, one spoke Greek and the other Italian on top of English and both of them were friendly.
Because it was in the middle of the general strike, we could not do much, so had a rest in the room that afternoon.
During that time, the Opéra sent us an email to let us know that the ballet on the evening was cancelled, as we expected.
And a friend of ours, who lives in Fontainebleau and had said that she would come to Paris to meet us on the next day, contacted us to say that she could not make it because she found that only one return train was running.
I think it is very rare today for a capital city in the developed country that paralyzed as much as this because of the general strikes.
This reminded me of the time we were in Bordeaux a few years ago on May Day, when we leaned that May Day is as important as Christmas in France.
Anyway, when it was getting dark, we went out for a walk around the area.
In the shopping streets with many chain stores, it was lively with many people who did not seem to be worried about the current state of the strike.
We went to Opéra Bastille, too and found that there was the notice stick on the window saying that the performance on the day was cancelled.
It was the time that we would have been watching the ballet otherwise.
It was really a shame, but we could not do anything.
By the way, later, the ticket fee was refunded automatically.
Before going back to the hotel, we went to the Enoteca (I do not know how you call it in France) next to our hotel.
The name was Ici Méme.
It has nice and relaxing atmosphere.
We had the assorted cheese and salami and a glass of red wine there.
They let us taste three kinds of wine and we chose the strongest one from the south of France.
When we tried it, we did not feel it, but later, we realised that it was really strong and for me, it was too much.
The taste itself was nice, though.
As for the assorted foods, it looked like the ones we often have in Italy, but the each cheese and each salami was quite different from the Italian ones.
The quality was high and I liked the soft cheese the best.
On the other hand, the one which looked like Bresaola tasted too strong.
The workers here were nice and friendly.
We liked it here, so we went back on the next evening, too.
And we bought a couple of bottles at the end.
You cannot take liquid into airplanes, but this time, we were travelling with Eurostar train, so we were allowed.
